Joanna Baytin, Joey Ndo, and Lola Montez (skit)

In the summer of 2019, I returned home to picturesque Sligo, in the west of Ireland, to carry out my MA research and write dissertation. Like the vast majority dissertation titles, it's long-winded, and terribly un-catchy. I finished on “A study of the acquisition of English and the integration of non-Irish adults into their new host society of Sligo, Ireland.” That said, this article is about the ones I left behind...

Somewhere between editing the final drafts, I started to fantasize about an alternative project and an alternative title. One that catches the ear, ignites attention, and lures the reader into reading 20,000 words of academic writing. One that encapsulates all things Sligo.

Here's the top ten of the titles and dissertations that are yet to be written:

1. The Language Barrier: Integrating Donegal people into everyday Drumcliffe life

2. Joey Ndo: How a man from Cameroon, can be Born in the Showgrounds

3. Italian food, Turkish chefs, Pakistani delivery drivers: How Roberto’s is an Integration Success Story

4. Who’s yer wan?: Eastern European hairdressers on coping with overnight celebrity status in the host society

5. Rugby Refugees: How Kiwi migrants made Hamilton Park, Strandhill their home

6. Cead Mile Failte: Sligo, the town of a thousand wellbois

7. Joanna Baytin: A profile of the German Abbot employee whose name is a well-known Sligo threat

8. Cultural Gainz : How Eastern European migrants taught Sligo people what gyms are

9. Lola Montez: a profile of a dancer, actress, lecturer, and author whose notoriety sparked a nightclub rebrand centuries later

10. Swimming pools and roundabouts: How Polish men built Ballisadare and are now stuck there in negative equity

Sorry the last one is a little blunt. I had something about five parishes coming together to form one, but it lacked migration aspect. Also Westlife. Could someone shoehorn the lads in? And maybe Connell and Mariana too? Sound, hey.